Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to heat sink assemblies, and more particularly to heat sink assemblies for integrated circuit applications.
Background Art
Technology in the field of electronic integrated circuits continues to advance. Modern semiconductor devices of integrated circuits continue to get smaller while offering more processing power. While the reduction in size leads to more compact electronic devices, the increased processing power requires the removal of thermal energy from the integrated circuit to ensure reliable performance. One method of removing thermal energy from an integrated circuit is with a heat sink. Heat sinks have a large, thermally conductive surface area that conducts and radiates thermal energy away from electronic components.
Many modern processor integrated circuits are constructed in a plastic or ceramic package, which is coupled to a printed wiring board by way of external leads or solder balls. Heat sinks are frequently mounted along a major face of the integrated circuit to remove thermal energy. While heat sinks come in various shapes and sizes, to be effective, a thermally conductive surface of the heat sink should be held securely against the surface of the electronic component to be cooled.
Illustrating by example, microprocessor integrated circuits are generally coupled to a printed wiring board by an array of solder balls disposed along the bottom of the integrated circuit. A heat sink is then placed atop the integrated circuit and is bolted to a boss to “lock” the heat sink in place with a tight thermal coupling between the top of the integrated circuit and the bottom of the heat sink.
While heat sinks work well in practice, prior art methods of thermally coupling a heat sink to an integrated circuit can be problematic. If, for example, screws are not evenly tightened, the underlying integrated circuit or its electrical connections to the printed wiring board can become damaged. It would be advantageous to have an improved heat sink assembly that reduces the incidence of integrated circuit or electrical connection damage during attachment of the heat sink to an underlying electrical component.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.